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A review by remytherat
Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.75
There were a lot of questionable moments that felt less like "this is an unlikeable character/bad choice on the character's part" and more a Choice by the author that was definitely unnecessary. I'm talking about the fatphobia. It stopped being a character thing and became an author thing pretty early on, so do be aware of that going in.
The weirdness of it isn't what turned me off from this book, instead it was some of the narrative decisions that I just didn't vibe with. It's easy to see what Ottessa Moshfegh is so popular, but equally easy to see why people find her books hard to like. The way this is written feels very stream of consciousness, which works for this narrative.
Pacing wise, there was a chunk near the final third that I just did not care about. I got bored of the repetitiveness (which was intentional), and coupled with everything else, I nearly checked out entirely.
oh, and the dog dies at the end.
The weirdness of it isn't what turned me off from this book, instead it was some of the narrative decisions that I just didn't vibe with. It's easy to see what Ottessa Moshfegh is so popular, but equally easy to see why people find her books hard to like. The way this is written feels very stream of consciousness, which works for this narrative.
Pacing wise, there was a chunk near the final third that I just did not care about. I got bored of the repetitiveness (which was intentional), and coupled with everything else, I nearly checked out entirely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood
Moderate: Cancer and Death